Why Alex Cora turned down the Phillies managerial job before Rob Thomson was even fired

Cora was fired as the Red Sox manager just days earlier

On Tuesday, the Phillies became the second team in less than a week to fire their manager. Rob Thomson was let go amid the club's 9-19 start, which has Philadelphia at the very bottom of the MLB standings. That move was made four days after the Red Sox fired Alex Cora and most of his coaching staff. At the time, the Red Sox were 10-17, not much better than the Phillies.

Phillies president of business operations Dave Dombrowski originally hired Cora to manage the Red Sox back in October 2017 and the two are said to be close and have a strong relationship. Because of that, speculation circulated that Cora would join the Phillies basically since the moment he was fired. Dombrowski confirmed on Tuesday that yes, he did offer the job to Cora on Sunday, but Cora turned it down a day later -- and a day before Thomson was fired.

"I talked to Alex. We never got down to the nuts and bolts of things. He called me Saturday night as a friend. I guess he calls me one of his mentors and we talked because he never had been through (getting fired) before," Dombrowski said. "... I talked to him on Sunday morning. We talked about potentially taking the job. I had told him I had really come to the conclusion that if he took it, I was going to make a change. I thought he might take it. 

"As time went on over the next day into Monday morning, it was apparent from his perspective that he wanted to take time with his family. It wasn't because of pay or because he's paid through the next year. He just felt that he wanted, at this point, to be a father first and foremost. That's what he had decided."

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Cora's contract with the Red Sox runs through 2027. He can stay home and spend time with his family through the end of next season and continue to collect paychecks, so, right now, there's not much pressure to figure out what's next. It also makes sense to pass on the Phillies' job now to see what else becomes available after the season, and pick from multiple options.

Don Mattingly, Thomson's bench coach, was named Philadelphia's interim manager through the end of this season. They will not seek a permanent replacement now -- there are only so many quality managers available in-season -- and will instead circle back in a few months. I would expect Dombrowski to touch base with Cora again then, just to see how he's feeling.

"I think Alex Cora's one of the finest managers in the game of baseball," Dombrowski said Tuesday. "I've been fortunate enough to work with Hall of Fame managers like Tony La Russa and Jim Leyland, and have been very fortunate in my career. I think if Alex Cora decides to keep managing again, he has a chance to be in that same category."

Thomson replaced Joe Girardi in June 2022 and led the team to the National League pennant that year. The Phillies went 355-270 in parts of five seasons under Thomson, and reached the postseason four times. Cora guided the Red Sox to the 2018 World Series title in his first year with the team. The Red Sox went 620-541 in parts of eight years under his watch.